


Names

by orphan_account



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters: Ruby & Sapphire & Emerald | Pokemon Ruby Sapphire Emerald Versions
Genre: M/M, Past AU, Some Cursing, Soulmates AU, hardenshipping - Freeform, on one wrist you have the name of your soulmate on the other you have the name of your mortal enemy, side courtney/shelly, theyre team rocket
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-14
Updated: 2017-07-30
Packaged: 2018-12-01 22:02:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 17,306
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11495634
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: What kind of a name is Archie?Maxie had wondered this throughout his entire life. Archie isn't exactly a common name; it sounds like a nickname or something. Maxie didn't know any Archies. Nobody that Maxie knew knew any Archies (he'd asked everyone.) He went through the phone book, but Archie is a first name, not a last name, so he found nothing there. He'd Googled it, but again, a first name isn't exactly specific enough to find a person. Sometimes, when he felt particularly lonely, he sat in a Starbucks to see if the barista would ever call out that stupid name. He tried every trick in the book to find this guy.Then again, sometimes Maxie thought he shouldn't try to find him. After all, his name was on both his wrists.---AU based on this tumblr post: chekhovsgum.tumblr.com/post/139383734894/cindymoon-im-so-tired-of-the-au-where-yourBasically, one wrist has the name of your soulmate and the other has the name of your soulenemy. Maxie has Archie's name on both wrists. Confusion ensues.





	1. Assignment

**Author's Note:**

> Yayayay my first Pokémon fic! If you like, please leave a comment or a kudos so I know you like it! <3

What kind of a name is Archie?

Maxie had wondered this throughout his entire life. Archie isn't exactly a common name; it sounds like a nickname or something. Maxie didn't know any Archies. Nobody that Maxie knew knew any Archies (he'd asked everyone.) He went through the phone book, but Archie is a first name, not a last name, so he found nothing there. He'd Googled it, but again, a first name isn't exactly specific enough to find a person. Sometimes, when he felt particularly lonely, he sat in a Starbucks to see if the barista would ever call out that stupid name. He tried every trick in the book to find this guy.

Then again, sometimes Maxie thought he shouldn't try to find him. After all, his name was on both his wrists.

This was incredibly rare. Everyone knows that one wrist has your soulmate, and the other has your fated rival and enemy. Most people don't know which is which until they meet one of them, but Maxie would never have to deal with that. He figured he must've really pissed off Arceus in a previous life to get the same name on BOTH wrists. How can you have your soulmate also be your sworn enemy? What a shitty way to live life, Maxie thought. Who even has that?  
  
Archie, he thought snidely to himself. Archie has that.

A knock sounded on the door to his office. Maxie blinked himself out of his thoughts and pushed his glasses up. "Come in," he said, putting his hands over his keyboard so he'd look like he was working.

Another Rocket grunt poked his head through the door. "Giovanni wants you."

"I'm busy," said Maxie. He wasn't, but he didn't want to deal with Giovanni today. He was really only working this job because it paid the best and he, as a scientist and not a grunt, actually got to use his degree in geology. He hated Team Rocket's views on Pokémon, especially, but Giovanni's God complex was a close second.

"I'd go now," the grunt snickered, closing the door. Maxie sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose, and left the room.

\---

"What'd you need me for, boss?" Maxie asked, taking the seat across from Giovanni's desk.

"Ah, Maxie. How has your research on the legendaries been going?" Giovanni asked, turning in his chair. Maxie always hated his sly smirk.

"Well, sir, I've been making lots of headway through the sightings and reports of the legendary birds especially," Maxie said, fidgeting in his chair. He didn't want to show his nervousness to his boss; he didn't want to get fired or a demotion, even though he hated the job.

"What a coincidence! See, there has been a particularly interesting sighting of Moltres and possibly the other birds at the volcano of Cinnabar Island," Giovanni said, putting his elbows on his desk. "You came to mind to go investigate the volcano."

Maxie blinked. "How long will this... investigation take?" He was already worried, as Cinnabar Island was known for its strong Pokémon and trainers that were all too eager to battle. All he had was his faithful yet low-level Numel.

"Depending on how efficiently you do your job, from two weeks to a month." Maxie balked. He'd never been asked to do a mission like this before!

"Will I get a bonus?" Maxie asked.

Giovanni laughed. Maxie awkwardly chuckled. "If you need it and perform your job well, it will certainly be likely. Are you accepting this job?"

"O-of course, sir! Thank you for the opportunity!" Maxie squeaked. Giovanni chuckled heartily and shook his hand. "The only issue is, how will I deal with trainers and wild Pokémon? My Numel is only level 5," Maxie said meekly, not wanting to anger him.

"Oh, you'll be doing this with a partner, of course! Your partner will be..." Giovanni thumbed through a folder and Maxie internally sighed with relief.

"...Archie Aogiri."

Maxie froze. He instantly felt nauseous. Archie? Could it be _the_ Archie? He wasn't sure he wanted a soul mate who was a Rocket grunt, which seemed hypocritical but at the moment he didn't care. Oh Arceus, was it really Archie? How was he supposed to focus on the task at hand? He remembered that Archie was also his rival, which brought him back to reality. Was he even ready to meet him? Maxie had been dreaming about this mysterious guy since he was a kid! What if he didn't meet his expectations? Oh no, what if he's stupid?

"Maxie?" Giovanni waved a hand in front of his face. "D'ya know him?"

Maxie flinched. "Oh, no, just thought I recognized the name. But I don't." He massaged the skin on his wrist and traced the name with his finger. "Thank you, boss."

"You're dismissed," Giovanni said after a skeptical pause. Maxie stood abruptly and left, trying to suppress his anxiety. He was finally going to meet Archie. Maybe it wouldn't even be _his_ Archie! It could be another Archie for all he knew.

Maxie took a deep breath. This was going to be a long mission, that's for sure.

  
\---

"Damn! Cinnabar, huh? That's quite a ways away," Courtney said. She and Maxie were eating their lunch at a small café near the Rocket base.

"Mmhm. But you know what's even crazier? You're not gonna believe this, Court," Maxie said, taking a sip of his coffee. "Y'know how I have the name Archie on both my wrists?"

"Oh, yeah, you talk about it all the time! You still haven't met anybody named Shelly, have you? Or Matt?" She asked, rubbing her wrists.

Maxie looked down at her wrists and laughed. "Sorry but no. Anyways, big boss is telling me I'm going to have a partner, right, and I ask who it is. Guess who?!"

"No fucking way! The fabled Archie of myth and legend?!" Courtney almost yelled, leaning over the table.

"Yes! I'm still reeling. I'm actually going to meet him!" Maxie smiled as Courtney grabbed his hands and squealed.

"Oh my god, so he's a Rocket grunt? Maybe he's one of the super-buff guys. Wait, no, they're all meatheads, nevermind. Maybe he has, like, a Charizard!" Courtney seemed almost as excited as Maxie.

"Yeah, yeah, but Court, he's also my soul-enemy! How am I supposed to do my damn job with this guy around?!" Maxie said, frowning and taking another sip of coffee.

"Oh, who cares! You're lying if you say you're not excited. Ask him if he has a hot sister named Shelly for me, would you?" she joked, punching his shoulder gently.

Maxie laughed, thankful for a friend like Courtney. They had met in college, where they both majored in geology and had most of the same classes. They bonded over having both been in the minority of having not met their soulmates or enemies yet. Courtney was practically his sister, which he was thankful for. They kept each other sane.

She made him promise to text her every day during the investigation and to keep her updated on Archie. Maxie laughed and promised as their lunch break came to an end and they proceeded back to the base.

Maxie could not focus for the rest of the work day for the life of him. He hadn't thought about his soulmate/soulenemy this much since he was an adolescent, and he felt hopeful and anxious and scared at the same time. By the end of the day, he was frazzled and more than ready to get back to his apartment and begin packing. In an email, Giovanni had specified that he would be leaving in a week, but Maxie felt that he couldn't wait that long. He was so close to his soulmate and enemy all this time as an employee of Team Rocket, too! The more he thought about it, the more ready he was to leave.

Predictably, he didn't get a wink of sleep that night.


	2. First Impression

On Maxie's wrists, the name Archie was written identically. The font had a clean, sans-serif look, and it was approximately 2 cm tall. It was written in black ink perfectly. Maxie had tried to write over it or erase it or do anything to alter its appearance--it was so bland and he had the same name, so weird!--but to no avail. It looked like a tattoo, but it never faded. (You can't laser it off, either, as he found in his research.) His parents always told him that he'd grow to love the names, but they both had different names on each wrist. He traced the letters with his fingers as he'd done for years, having memorized the angle of the A and the curve of the E over years of--

"Aye, are you Max?" a rough voice called from the doorway of the hotel room, snapping Maxie out of his reverie.

Maxie's heart fell through his stomach as he turned to look at the man. He was very tan (as opposed to Maxie's immense paleness) and had unruly black hair with a beard to match (as opposed to Maxie's clean, combed red hair and lack of facial hair.) He was broad, much broader than Maxie, and his plain black t-shirt was stretched over his muscles. He had plain black pants as well, with three Pokéballs strapped to his belt. He had a duffel bag slung on one shoulder and a half-empty water bottle and a room key in his hand.

Holy shit, Maxie thought. He's... hot.

Shit.

His dark blue eyes blinked, bringing Maxie back to reality. "Sorry, I must have the wrong room--"

"Oh, no, no, sorry, sorry, I'm Maxie. Are you... are you Archie?" Maxie fumbled, standing from the desk abruptly, making the open task folder fall onto the floor. He turned bright red; he was already making himself look like an idiot in front of his soulmate!

"Wait, Maxie? Your name is Maxie?" Archie asked, still stood in the doorway, now with a quizzical look on his face.

"Yes, it is." Maxie stood straight and tucked his arms behind his back, determined to at least look professional. He was certain his flushed face gave him away, though. "And you are?"

"Oh, I'm Archie! Sorry, I guess I misread Giovanni's handwriting... wait, let me help you pick those up," he said, finally moving as he knelt to pick up the sheets of paper that had fallen.

"Oh Arceus, I'm sorry about that! Here, let me..." Maxie bent down quickly to help Archie--too quickly.

Their heads collided as Archie tried to look up. Archie's forehead slammed into Maxie's jaw, leading to a string of expletives to stream from his mouth while Archie yelped. Maxie fell ass-first onto the carpet beside a dazed Archie. "Holy shit, I'm so sorry!" Maxie stammered, instinctively rushing to touch Archie's face to make sure he was okay.

Archie blinked twice as Maxie held his face in his hands. Maxie had completely forgotten about the soulmates thing; he was mostly worried about possibly concussing his partner. "Are you okay! Oh Arceus, please say something..." Maxie muttered while inspecting his forehead.

Archie snapped out of his stupor and looked Maxie in the eye. "I'm fine! I'm fine, really, I mean, I'll probably get a wicked bruise, but other than that I'm fine. Sorry to worry ya, heh," he awkwardly laughed, pulling his face out of Maxie's grasp.

Maxie rubbed his hands on his pants. He felt his ears burn. "Of course. Sorry about that. As you've heard, I'm Maxie." He thrust his hand out and Archie shook it.

"And I'm Archie." His handshake was firm and strong. "So, we were both assigned to Cinnabar, huh? 'M yer partner then." He beamed at Maxie, trying to diffuse the awkwardness of the situation.

He stood, offering a hand to help Maxie up. Maxie took it, standing and brushing off his clothes. "Yes, yes. I'm... excited to see what we find." He tried to get a look at Archie's wrists to see if even one of them was Maxie's name, but they were out of sight as Archie put his hands behind his head.

"So, I'll take that bed then, eh?" Archie said, flinging his duffel bag on the far bed. "D'ya happen to know the hotel's Pokémon policy?" he asked, looking back at Maxie as he unclipped his Pokéballs from his belt and placed them gently on the bed. Before Maxie could reply, he began again, "Actually, I know Mightyena can be super quiet if he needs to, and he doesn't smell like some dogs do, so he's probably fine," and let his Mightyena out of its Pokéball.

Maxie stood with his mouth agape. Did this guy just release his Mightyena in the hotel room? Without asking the hotel staff?! Call him a killjoy, but Maxie was dumbfounded. "He that lieth down with Mightyenas shall rise up with fleas, don't you know?" he quipped, pushing up his glasses and returning to his desk.

"Not my Mightyena! He's a good one, eh boy?" Archie said, sounding offended. He then scratched its head, making it pant with delight. Mightyena immediately jumped on the bed and laid down, seemingly smiling up at Maxie. Archie laughed, which made Maxie's heart flutter.

Maxie made a silent vow to himself to not fall for him. At least, not until he sees his wrists. This Archie, while attractive, didn't seem like the sharpest grunt. Wait, maybe that's the enemy part? Maxie was confused, to say the least. He resolved to just do his damn job. If Archie acts particularly charming... he'll see.

Before Maxie buried himself in the case file again, he pulled his phone out and texted Courtney. He got an immediate response.

[3:47 PM] Maxie: Court, he's hot.

[3:48 PM] Courtney: romance that man immediately

[3:48 PM] Courtney: whats he look like??

[3:49 PM] Maxie: Well... he's tall, taller than me. 6' something. Tan skin. He's got black hair and a little bit of a beard. Very muscular. He's got these really nice dark blue eyes, too. You know I like guys with blue eyes, man!

[3:49 PM] Courtney: bruh if you dont fuck him immediately i will lol

[3:49 PM] Maxie: Very funny. He won't let me see his wrists, though. Don't know if it's on purpose or not. C, what if he's not my Archie?????

[3:50 PM] Courtney: okay princess untangle your presumably wet knickers for me

[3:50 PM] Courtney: you two are both in rocket, right? you two both got assigned to the same mission, right? you two are in the same hotel room? you two probably had some real meet-cute shit happen?? i'd say its fate

[3:51 PM] Maxie: About the meet-cute.

[3:51 PM] Maxie: I may or may not have given him a minor concussion.

[3:51 PM] Courtney: LMFAO HOLY SHIT DUDE

[3:51 PM] Courtney: if he doesnt beat the shit out of you immediately, yallre meant to be

[3:52 PM] Maxie: Ughhhhhhhh. He's also kind of a dick. His Mightyena is currently sleeping on his bed. I'm pretty sure this hotel has a no-Pokémon policy.

[3:52 PM] Courtney: damn even while meeting your soulmate you cant seem to retrieve the stick from your anus huh

[3:53 PM] Maxie: Gotta go. Important mission stuff.

[3:53 PM] Maxie: ...oh arceus almightly he just stretched and i could see his midriff c help me

[3:53 PM] Courtney: nice 2 know ur still thirsty af <3

[3:54 PM] Courtney: have fun w prince charming bb, keep me updated

Maxie chuckled and put down his phone. He looked over at Archie and was surpised to have caught him staring. Archie quickly averted his gaze, which made Maxie quirk an eyebrow. He was tempted to text Courtney back, but he was an adult. He could do this on his own.

"'M starving, I haven't eaten since the plane. Mind if we go get a bite to eat? We can get to know each other more," asked Archie, giving Maxie a sly smile.

That damn smile. Maybe he couldn't do this on his own. Maxie began to rethink that promise he made to himself.

"Sounds good," Maxie said, making sure he closed the folder completely before standing. 

\---

"So where're you from?" Archie asked after ordering his early dinner.

Maxie laughed a little. "I just work in the Silph building in Saffron." It sounded underwhelming, now that he said it out loud. "I'm a researcher-slash-scientist," he added.

"Oh, so you live in Kanto? I'm from the Hoenn branch," Archie said.

This piqued Maxie's interest. "Really? No wonder you're so hungry after your flight. I'm originally from Hoenn, too. Fallarbor. Where are you from?" This was feeling more and more like a date, which made Maxie uncomfortable.

"Dewford, baby, born and raised!" Archie said, flashing that shark-like grin again. "It's a sleepy little fishing town, yeah, but I love the ocean so I love it." Maxie snorted. Of course Archie's from Dewford, he seems like the typical surfer dude with his overly relaxed demeanor.

Maxie scolded himself mentally. Goddammit, what happened to NOT falling for this guy? You have work to do! Important work! And if this guy's your soulmate, he's your enemy, too, so it's best to be cautious. "I don't know. Personally, I don't like the ocean," he said truthfully.

Archie's jaw dropped. "What? How is that possible! The ocean is the most important thing to keeping our planet alive, especially for Pokémon!" he said passionately.

Maxie responded with a noncommital shrug. "Well, I agree with you on the importance of Pokémon. But I think the world would be better off with more land. The world is over seventy percent ocean, anyway. There's plently of landdwelling Pokémon, anyway."

Archie seemed to be on the cusp of fuming at this point. "No, we've only explored less than five percent of the oceans! Even if there were more known Pokémon on land, there's still ninety five percent--"

Archie was cut off by the waitress delivering their meal. He grumbled something to the side and began devouring his food. Maxie sneered internally at his lack of manners and proceeded to methodically divide his meal into even portions. Maybe not falling for this guy wouldn't be so hard after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks everybody for the kudos & support! <3


	3. Afterthoughts

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Posting this on my phone, sorry if the formatting is off (especially around paragraphs!)

After Maxie and Archie ate dinner, Maxie went back to the hotel room to review the mission folder one last time while Archie insisted he needed to walk Mightyena. This left Maxie alone in the room, thinking about what happened. He didn’t expect to make Archie mad, he just wanted to see how he’d react. He paced with his arms behind his back, as he often did when stressed or thinking. If Archie and Maxie didn’t get along, was that good or bad? Would it mean that he was his soulmate and enemy? He decided to text Courtney to see what she thought before he drove himself crazy.

  
[7:21 PM] Maxie: We got into an argument. What does that mean?

  
This time, Courtney didn’t reply. Maxie sighed and threw his phone on his bed. He still had no idea what it meant to have your soul mate also be your sworn enemy. Most people know immediately when they meet either. Then again, most people don’t have both as the same person.

  
The door opened and Archie entered, holding a Pokéball and a leash. “Turns out this hotel has a no-Pokémon rule,” he grunted, throwing the leash and ball on the bed. “The damn receptionist yelled at me when I tried to bring ‘im inside!” He sat on his bed and pouted at Maxie.

  
“How ridiculous,” Maxie said coolly as he pretended to mark on the Moltres information sheet.

  
Archie made a face. “Anyway, how’s yer research goin’? What are we gonna be doin’?”

  
Maxie cleared his throat and pushed up his glasses. “Well, Giovanni wanted me to examine the magma that resulted from the volcano’s last eruption. Check for any signs of Moltres or any other legendary bird in the process.” He turned to face Archie. “Well, that’s my job, anyway. Your job is to make sure I don’t get eaten alive by wild Pokémon or Trainers.”

  
“What, I can’t help ya with the sciencey-stuff? ‘M not stupid, y’know,” Archie protested, looking at Maxie with a challenge in his eyes.

  
Maxie scoffed and crossed his arms. “I’m not doubting your obvious intelligence. Unless you have a master’s in geology and/or volcanology, I don’t think you’re qualified.”

  
Archie sighed loudly. “Is there a reason why yer bein’ so uppity? I don’t want to spend the next couple a weeks with someone who hates me,” he said as he stood.

  
Maxie flushed and stood, advancing toward him. He held his hands behind his back and was forced to physically look upwards to face him. “I just want to do my job and do it well, with little to no distractions. I don’t think being buddy-buddy is necessary.”

  
Archie looked down at Maxie, looking confused. Maxie caught him rubbing his wrists. “Sure, it’s not necessary, but it sure makes it more fun, eh?” He backed off a little, took a deep breath, and smiled sheepishly. “I don’t wanna do a mission with someone I hate, personally. I’d rather we be friends, huh?” He put a hand on Maxie’s shoulder. “By the end of this trip, we’ll be friends, I know it.”

  
Maxie crossed his arms on his chest and looked up at Archie dubiously. “Mmhm. We’ll see about that. Now, can I get back to my work?” He wondered internally about what this meant for his soulmate theory.

  
Archie grinned widely. “Yeah, Maxie, you do that. I was gonna take a shower anyway.” He strode to the closet and retrieved a towel, then stripped off his shirt and walked into the bathroom.

  
Maxie felt his face turn red. Yes. Yes, he was as muscular as he looked with the shirt. How do you even get abs like that?! To be fair, Maxie never worked out and was very scrawny. Maybe he should start! He strode to his bed to text Courtney and see what she thought.

When he unlocked his phone, he realized that she’d replied to his previous text.

  
[8:43 PM] Courtney: it means ur human

  
[8:44 PM] Courtney: didya ask about a hot chick named shelly yet?

  
[9:12 PM] Maxie: Sorry. Didn’t see those until now. And no, I’ve forgotten.

  
[9:12 PM] Courtney: dammit man not all of us can meet our soulmates as fast as you

  
[9:13 PM] Maxie: About that. We had another fight over dinner, and then he left to walk his Mightyena when I went back to the room. When he got back, he said he was “determined to be my friend.” Thoughts?

  
[9:14 PM] Courtney: stop being a dick to the guy and be his damn friend!!

  
[9:14 PM] Courtney: anyway the fact hes still trying shows that he might have your dumb ass name on his wrist

  
[9:15 PM] Maxie: True. I didn’t think about that. Why can’t he just let me see his wrist?

  
[8:15 PM] Courtney: idk man

  
[9:15 PM] Courtney: remember to ask about shelly for me!! >:)

  
[9:16 PM] Maxie: I will, Court. Ty for putting up with my melodramatic self

  
[9:16 PM] Courtney: oh honey ive gotten used to it by now <3 buh bye

  
Maxie smiled at his phone as he put it on the nightstand by his bed. Leave it to Courtney to point out the obvious. He figured while Archie was in the shower he should change into his nightclothes, even though he knew he wasn’t going to sleep anytime soon.

  
He slipped on his flannel sweatpants and reached for his oversized tee. It was Tabitha’s; another friend from college, this time met by Courtney and Maxie at a party. All three were standing in the den away from the action, and Tabitha asked if they weren’t exactly party animals either. They laughed and talked more, and found that Tabitha was a year younger and undeclared. They became quick friends. Eventually, as Maxie and Courtney graduated and moved on to Team Rocket, they drifted apart from Tabitha, who was still getting his req’s out of the way. Every once in a while all three would meet up again, though, and recount all their experiences like it was old times. Maxie secretly hoped that Tabitha joined Team Rocket, despite the fact that Team Rocket was a generally horrible organization, just so they could be close again.

  
Maxie took one last look at his skinny torso in the mirror. He was so busy thinking about Archie, he didn’t hear the shower stop and the door open.

  
“D’ya ever eat?” Archie joked upon walking past and seeing Maxie.

  
Maxie felt his entire body flush red in embarrassment. He threw the oversized shirt over his head and tugged it down. The shirt was so big on him, his collarbones were exposed. He regretted his choice in shirt. “Y-yes, I do. It’s genetics.” His excuse sounded lame even to him.

  
Archie chuckled. Maxie didn’t notice he was clad only in a towel around his waist until he looked up and saw him. “Sure it is, Maxie. Maybe I oughta take ya to the gym sometime, eh? Make it so I can’t count yer ribs,” he laughed, grabbing a pile of clothes and heading back to the bathroom.

  
Maxie turned around. “S-shut up, meathead!” Once Archie closed the door he sighed, sat at the desk again, and opened his laptop. A new email from Giovanni stated that he expected daily updates on their findings for the entirety of the investigations and Maxie groaned. He was hoping he could complete the work in a week and use the rest of the time as paid vacation, but stretching a week’s worth of work over four seemed unrealistic. He typed a reply to confirm the plan and sent it.

  
He decided to take the rest of the night to read a book he found on the history of the Cinnabar volcano eruptions. He sat on his bed and began reading.

  
Archie returned from the bathroom in a pair of blue plaid boxers, yawning. “D’ya think they’ll yell at me again if I let out my Carvanha instead?” He looked at one of his Pokéballs thoughtfully.

  
Maxie laughed, peering at Archie over the book. “As long as it doesn’t eat up the sheets, you’re probably fine.” A Carvanha is a lot easier to ignore than a Mightyena.

  
“Ah! Good thinking,” Archie said as he pointed at Maxie. He pressed the button on the Pokéball, and his Carvanha fell onto the bed. Archie picked it up and pet its side as he baby-talked it.

  
“...Don’t Carvanhas have rough skin?” Maxie asked incredulously, watching Archie pet it with ease.

  
Archie shrugged and gave him another shark-like grin. “Ya get used to it. Hey, what’s your Pokémon? I thought ya didn’t have any,” he asked, letting Carvanha swim through the air slowly in circles.

  
“Oh, it’s just my Numel. He’s very weak,” Maxie said dismissively.

  
“Can I see him?” Archie asked, suddenly looking at Maxie with curiosity in his eyes.

  
He snorted. “He’ll burn the carpet, he doesn’t like strangers.”

  
“I’m not a stranger!” Archie protested. Maxie sighed and put down the book, reaching for the Pokéball on the nightstand. He hesitantly released Numel onto the bed next to him. Numel looked around obliviously and found his trainer, climbing into his lap lazily.

  
“He’s so cute! Mind if I pet him?” Archie asked, coming to sit next to Maxie. He nodded hesitantly, petting Numel’s head to keep him sleepy and unaware. Archie hesitantly stroked Numel’s back with an open hand. Maxie was taken aback at how gentle and careful he was; he must be experienced at petting wild or untamed Pokémon. He talked quietly to Numel, reassuring it that he was friendly. Numel responded with a big yawn as it laid its head on Maxie’s knee, falling asleep contently.

  
Archie was alarmingly close to Maxie at this point, leaning over him to pet Numel. Maxie wasn’t sure if the heat he felt was coming from Numel or Archie. He was reminded of Archie’s lack of a shirt. Maybe this guy wasn’t so bad after all; he seemed to genuinely care for Pokémon.

  
“I know what yer thinking. I volunteered at a Pokémon rescue foundation before I joined Rocket. I just love ‘em so much, y’know? Humans can be mean, but Pokémon are nice unless you give ‘em a reason not to be. Found that out the hard way when I tried to rescue an abused Poochyena and the little cunt bit me, hard.” He laughed a little at the memory. One of his Pokéballs shook on his nightstand, and he said “Yeah, ‘m talkin’ to you!”

  
Maxie put two and two together. “Oh, so your Mightyena was a rescue Pokémon? That’s… really kind of you,” he said, adding the last bit to himself. Archie was seeming better and better every moment and Maxie had to remind himself of his promise.

  
“Mmhm. After the pound we were forced to send him to put him on death row, I had to succumb and take the little bugger home. Now, he’s a lot friendlier and stronger, too. We’re real bonded, and ‘m glad I saved his life. He is too, I think.” He looked fondly at the shaking Pokéball. Maxie saw something in his eyes he didn’t see before. “Ah, fuck it, they can kick us out for all I care,” Archie said, reaching over and releasing Mightyena.

  
Mightyena yipped happily, licking Archie’s face. He shushed his Pokémon, not wanting to alert the hotel staff. Numel looked up, confused at all the commotion, while Carvanha gently floated over to Archie. He caught Maxie’s dumbfounded look and said “Okay, okay, fine. I’ll put ‘em back in their balls.”

  
Maxie looked at his guilty look and sighed, trying to repress a smile. “The Mightyena can stay.”

  
Archie laughed and Mightyena jumped up on the bed, licking Maxie’s face. Maxie protested, pointing out how unsanitary Pokémon saliva is and asking when its last bath was. Numel climbed out of his lap and went back in its Pokéball, not liking the noise and movement.

Mightyena took this opportunity to push Maxie back on the bed, continuing its relentless licking. He cried out in protest, trying and failing to push it away.

  
Archie burst out laughing, and retrieved Mightyena. “Okay, ’s gettin’ late. ‘M goin’ to bed now. Night,” he said as he brought Mightyena over to his bed. Maxie could hear the smirk in his voice.

  
“Goodnight. We wake up early, got it? This investigation won’t investigate itself.” Maxie nestled himself under the covers, reaching at the lamp to turn off the light.

  
“Of course, princess. We rise at dawn,” Archie joked, pushing the covers back so he could lay with Mightyena.

  
Maxie remembered Courtney’s nickname and chuckled quietly. “That Mightyena better not wake me up in the middle of the night.”

  
“It is the middle of the night,” Archie laughed. Maxie sighed, frustrated, and turned off the light.

  
He laid awake for most of the night, thinking of how to resist him. He was so kind; he even shared Maxie’s love for Pokémon! Not to mention his looks and charm…

  
Then again, he seemed to have a bit of a temper on him. Maxie disagreed with him at dinner and he practically erupted. He burrowed deeper in the covers, missing Archie’s heat. He absentmindedly traced the name on his wrists.  
Archie.

  
Why wouldn’t he let him see his damn wrists?! That would solve everything. He would know if they were soulmates and soul enemies at that point. Everything would be easier. Maxie looked over at Archie, who was already snoring with Mightyena at his feet. He forced himself to look away. Just focus on your job, Maxie, he told himself. Romance or rivalry are secondary. Do your job and find out Moltres’s whereabouts. It’s not like this job was boring; it was the most interesting thing Maxie’s ever done for Team Rocket.

  
Eventually, Maxie fell asleep. He dreamt of Carvanhas and Mightyenas and a volcano erupting, burying Maxie in magma.


	4. Fieldwork

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Had to rewrite this one a couple of times. Enjoy!

Maxie slowly opened his eyes. Light was streaming through the window on the other side of the room. His jaw dully ached and he felt... wetness?

Maxie looked up, regaining focus. Standing above him was the damn Mightyena, slobbering and panting on his face. He let out a yelp once he figured out what it was and attempted to push it off of him. The Mightyena sat next to him instead, playfully wagging its tail. Maxie looked around for Archie to yell at, but he wasn't in his bed. What time was it...?

Maxie put on his glasses and looked at the alarm clock on the bedside table. 11:48?! "What happened to 'waking up early?'" Maxie grumbled to himself as he got out of bed. He begrudgingly took a shower and got dressed in his Rocket uniform, still groggy from sleep.

His jaw hurt like a bitch now. He found that the minifridge in the hotel room had an ice maker, so he sat back down on the bed and iced it, still trying to wake up. The door opened and Maxie craned his head to see who was coming.

"Oh! Hey, Maxie. I thought ya were still sleeping, so I got breakfast. Don't worry, I got ya a muffin," Archie said as he walked in, throwing the muffin at Maxie.

"Tell me why I just woke up at a quarter to noon as opposed to, I don't know, 6 or 7?" Maxie asked angrily, taking a bite of the muffin.

Archie grinned sheepishly. "Well, I normally wake up around there, but you looked so peaceful, so I decided to go for a jog, which then turned into giving Mightyena a walk, when then turned into breakfast." He pet Mightyena absentmindedly as he spoke. "Sorry," he added.

Maxie sighed. "We have to get going if we're going to get anything done today." He stood, taking another bite of the muffin and held the ice back to his jaw. The pain had somewhat subsided. "How's your forehead doing, by the way?"

"Oh, 's fine. A little bruise, but it doesn't hurt like 'm assumin' yer jaw does," Archie laughed in response. When Maxie walked over to observe it, the bruise was a pretty light shade of purple and red; it looked like it would be fine in a couple days.

"Very well, then. Put on your Rocket attire and we can go to the volcano," Maxie instructed as he triple-checked that the testing kit Giovanni had provided had everything he needed.

\---

"Y'know, 's actually pretty nice around here," Archie stated, taking a deep breath, once the two had gotten to a substantial height on the volcano. Thankfully, the path made the climb a lot easier.

"I'd be careful about sighing. Lots of ash in the air," Maxie said, adjusting his lab coat (He didn't need to wear it, per se, but he liked feeling official.) It was a lot colder than he expected. He opened the kit and retrieved a couple of plastic bags. "Here, hold the case while I get some rock samples," he directed, already making his way to the cooled magma flow.

"I expected there to be more people here. 'S actually pretty barren, huh?" Archie said, looking around. Truth be told, Maxie was surprised too at the lack of trainers. Maybe they weren't approached because of their Rocket uniforms. Maxie preferred to work in silence, however, so he silently nodded and chipped away at the flow to collect it in the bag. He handed it to Archie without a word and walked over to next discrete flow, which seemed older.

Maxie worked in silence for about fifteen minutes before Archie started getting bored. "I don't actually know that much about ya. We've already argued an' we've known each other for a day."

Maxie scoffed. "Maybe that's a sign we shouldn't get to know each other, hm?"

Archie pouted, not taking no for an answer. "What's yer favorite color?"

Maxie was taken by surprise by the random question, but continued to collect rock samples. "Red."

"I prefer blue. How old are you?"

Maxie paused. "Never ask a woman her age."

"Yer not a woman!" Archie laughed.

"Still. If you must know... twenty-four."

Archie burst into more laughter. "Holy hell, I thought ya must've been older than me!"

Maxie glared at him. "...And how old are you?"

"Twenty-five! Damn, ya act like yer thirty-four and look like yer fourteen!" Archie wiped a tear from his eye and calmed down upon seeing Maxie's death stare. "Okay, okay. What's yer favorite... ice cream flavor?"

Maxie rolled his eyes. "I don't see what this tells you about me, but vanilla." The two moved farther up the volcano.

"Boring. Chocolate's much better, especially chocolate Casteliacones. What's yer favorite Pokémon?"

"Numel. Obviously."

"I love all Pokémon, but Carvanha and Sharpedo are my favorites. Uh... how was yer childhood?" Archie asked again, turning a Pokéball over in his hand absentmindedly.

Maxie immediately bristled. "No," he said in a threatening voice.

"What's that s'posed to me--"

"No." Maxie proceeded up higher, not caring if Archie was following. Damn him for relenting any personal information to this stupid grunt. He might be your enemy, he reminded himself. Stupid, stupid stupid.

"'M sorry for pryin', I didn't mean to upset ya," Archie said once he caught up. Maxie ignored him. He knew he was being irrational; how could Archie have known about the relentless bullying? But he didn't care. It reminded him of the promise he made when he first met Archie. Just do your damn job, Maxie.

Archie sensed the hostility and backed off. The rest of the work continued in silence, with an occasional "Hurry up." from Maxie. Maxie felt guilty, but didn't bring it up. He preferred to immerse himself in his work; this was the kind of work that he was hoping for when he signed up for Rocket. Science. Not dealing with people. He returned to his work.

\---

At dinner, Archie devoured his sandwich while Maxie barely ate. He was preoccupied in thought. Maybe he should give Archie a chance. He could be his soulmate... he glanced at his wrists. Dammit. Archie's shirt was long-sleeved and Maxie couldn't see the tattoos. This guy really didn't want him to see them, huh? Maxie sighed, taking a sip of water. He should've asked Courtney for advice, she always knew what to do. He wished he wasn't sitting at the table with Archie. He may be a stuck-up asshole, but he wasn't going to take his phone out while at dinner with someone. But apparently he wasn't above pettily ignoring someone for an accident. He internally hit himself. He needed to apologize.

Archie looked up at Maxie after a long silence. He put down his food when he saw the thoughtful expression on his face. "Look, Max, 'm sorry for proddin' earlier. I just wanted to get to know ya. We're gonna have to spend the next couple a weeks together, an' I don't want to be spendin' it with a stranger."

Maxie let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding. "No, it's my fault. My childhood just... isn't a topic I want to talk about. I shut down when you said that, I guess. I'm sorry."

Archie smiled at him again. This guy never frowns, does he? "Thank Arceus yer talking to me again. I was goin' crazy," he chuckled, taking another bite. Maxie took a bite of his food, too. The atmosphere was immediately softer. Maxie hated fighting with people, so he was relieved that it was over. His relationship with Archie seemed to be pretty bipolar; but, in hindsight, the fights were because of Maxie.

"So... what's your lucky number?" Archie asked cheekily.

Maxie rolled his eyes and couldn't suppress a small smile. "Luck is an impossible mathematical fallacy. That being said... five."

Archie laughed. "Of course you'd say that. Yer a very math and science-based person, aren't ya?"

Maxie smirked. "Now you're getting it."

"...Astrological sign?"

Maxie chuckled. "Are you trying to get to know me or pick me up in a bar? I'm a leo."

Archie shrugged with that lopsided grin. "You'd know if I was tryin' to hit on ya, pretty boy. I'm a Pisces. That's the Carvanhas," he said proudly.

Maxie blushed at the nickname, then rolled his eyes. "Isn't it the Magikarp?" Archie reiterated that it was, in fact, the Carvanhas. "What's your deal, huh? Why'd you join Team Rocket?" he asked as he took another sip of water. Archie was actually really fun to talk to, even though Maxie generally hates people.

Archie looked a little more serious. "Well, as much as I'd like to volunteer at the Pokémon Shelter all day every day, I had to pay the bills. And my degree in marine biology didn't really lend itself to finding jobs easy to pay off the student loans so here I am."

Maxie nearly spit his water. "You have a degree in marine biology?!" Maxie had assumed he only had a high school education; he supposed that a lot of his first impressions of Archie were wrong.

Archie raised an eyebrow. "Don't look so surprised, scamp. U of H, baby! What college did you go to?"

Maxie wasn't suprised that Archie went to the University of Hoenn. "University of Kanto." He took another sip of his water before he remembered to say something important. "Off-topic, but do you know anyone named Shelly?"

Archie snorted. "Do I? Yeah, she's practically my sister. Known her forever."

Maxie chuckled. "That's hilarious!" he said, rubbing his wrist. Courtney would be so happy! He had to text her ASAP.

Archie tilted his head like a confused Lillipup. "Oh, is her name on your wrist?" He reached to grab Maxie's wrist.

Maxie flinched and retracted his hand as if he had been burnt. "No, no, she isn't. My friend Courtney has been looking for a girl named Shelly and a guy named Matt because those are on her wrists, though. Speaking of, who's on yours?" he said, shifting the subject to Archie.

Archie laughed awkwardly. "Well, I'll have to give ya her number so you can give it to this Courtney lass, eh?" He checked his phone. "Oh, look at the time, 's already 9. We should get goin' back to the room."

Maxie nodded. "Yes, that's a good idea." He decided not to press on the names in case Archie turned it back on him. They left after paying, the conversation having switched to a lighter topic.

Once they arrived at the hotel, they were laughing and the mood was much more playful. Archie opened the door for Maxie, claiming "Ladies first!", which made Maxie punch him gently in the arm.

All in all, Maxie wasn't disappointed that he gave Archie a try. He was actually a pretty nice person, despite his first impression. How could this guy be his enemy?

Maxie excused himself to change into his nightclothes and Archie sat on his bed while he waited. While Maxie was in the bathroom changing into his sweatpants and t-shirt (this time, it was a University of Kanto shirt, still slightly too big), he decided to text Courtney.

[9:51 PM] Maxie: Courtney I have great news!! :]

[9:52 PM] Courtney: oh? also those emoticons make u look like an old man lmao

[9:52 PM] Maxie: Fuck you, I'm only 4 months older. Anyways... Archie DID know a Shelly!

[9:53 PM] Courtney: WAIT REALLY HOLY SHIT

[9:53 PM] Maxie: Yep. He said he'd give me her # to send you so I'll update you later

[9:53 PM] Courtney: omg i just screamed irl im so happy

[9:54 PM] Courtney: maybe ur not such a bad wingman lmfao

[9:54 PM] Maxie: I'll have you know I'm a GREAT wingman. Just not for myself.

[9:54 PM] Courtney: mmhm sure

[9:55 PM] Maxie: Anyway, Archie and I fought again today because he asked about my childhood and I just freaked out. But we made up so it's fine now

[9:55 PM] Courtney: you made up but did u make out ;)))))

[9:56 PM] Maxie: Why do I talk to a literal 12 year old.

[9:56 PM] Courtney: im just kiddin ya old man

[9:56 PM] Courtney: but really ur giving me whiplash here

[9:57 PM] Maxie: Trust me, I feel worse about it than you. Still haven't seen his wrists.

[9:57 PM] Courtney: maxie you need to grab his fuckin hand and look at it

[9:57 PM] Courtney: all this dramatic bullshit will end if you just look at his wrist you pussy

[9:58 PM] Maxie: I'm trying! He's really defensive about it. I asked him earlier but he dodged the question. Maybe it's because it's not my name????

[9:58 PM] Courtney: maxie youre a teenage girl

[9:58 PM] Courtney: anyway i gtg a couple other grunts and i going to a bar

[9:59 PM] Maxie: Since when do you like to go to bars??

[9:59 PM] Courtney: since u abandoned me :P

[9:59 PM] Maxie: Point taken. Have fun, I guess?

[10:00 PM] Courtney: you know i wont lmao

[10:00 PM] Courtney: buh byee ttyl

[10:00 PM] Maxie: Bye, be careful!

[10:01 PM] Courtney: oh honey we both know youre the only lightweight around here ;D

Maxie sighed and turned off his phone and went back to talk to Archie. He had changed, too; this time in boxers and a Slateport Oceanic Museum t-shirt. Maxie let out a breath of relief once he found that Archie wasn't in as revealing clothing as he was last night. (Maxie might explode if he wore that every night.)

Archie grinned, as he seemed to always do. "'M glad you finally decided to give in an' be my friend, hm?" he said, elbowing Maxie when we walked past the bed to the desk.

"Don't speak too soon," Maxie muttered as he opened his laptop. He had to type up his report of the day to Giovanni. All they had done was collect samples from all over the volcano; he would start to conduct experiments on them tomorrow. Since Maxie went through college, he had a very refined bullshitting skill, and wrote a lengthy report that really said they picked up rocks and sent it.

He let out a squeak of surprise when he felt Archie's presence behind him. He leaned forward, his beard brushing on Maxie's shoulder. "Whatcha doin'? Work stuff?" Warmth seemed to radiate from Archie; this pleased Maxie, who was naturally a cold person (in personality and temperature.)

"Y-yeah," Maxie said as he abruptly shut the laptop. He stood, turning to face Archie. They were absurdly close. "Just the, uh, daily report. To boss."

Archie seemed to relish in Maxie's discomfort. His shark-like smile was haunting, and Maxie felt an overwhelming heat. His eyes trailed up and down Archie's body during the pregnant pause that followed. When his eyes met Archie's again, he had a knowing look. "That's good," he said as he walked back to his bed. Maxie fumbled, pushing his glasses up and trying to calm his mad blush.

Archie stretched with his back towards Maxie, and he knew immediately that he must be doing it on purpose. "I think 's time to hit the hay, eh? It's getting a little late and we don't want ya sleepin' in like ya did today," he suggested, flipping to face Maxie.

"Y-yeah. Good idea." Maxie replied, cursing himself internally for stuttering. He glanced down at Archie's wrist and finally caught a glimpse; one of the wrists started with an N or M, from what Maxie could see. Holy shit, he thought. Is he the one?

Archie followed Maxie's line of sight and moved to hide his wrists. If Maxie wasn't mistaken, he could've sworn he saw a hint of a blush on his tan cheeks. Maxie smiled and walked to his bed, climbing under the covers.

Maxie- 1. Archie- ...well Maxie didn't know exactly how many times Archie had flustered him, but it was more than 1. Dammit.


	5. Experiment

Maxie woke up to someone gently shaking him. "Maxie... Maaaaaxie... Arceus, for someone so adamant about wakin' up early, ya sure sleep like a damn Slakoth."

Maxie stretched and slowly opened his eyes. Archie was leaning over him with a dopey grin on his face. "Nice to see ya, Sleepin' Beauty."

Maxie sat up, rubbing his eyes and putting on his glasses. "How d'you end up waking up earlier than me?" He looked at the clock; 8:27. Better than yesterday, that's for sure.

Archie shrugged. "Mightyena doesn't let me get a lotta sleep. Anyway, ya were talkin' in yer sleep and keepin' me up."

Maxie instantly sobered up and looked at him. "Oh Arceus, what did I say?" It was an embarrassing habit of his that Courtney and Tabitha liked to joke about. He was hoping that it wouldn't crop up during the trip, but apparently the universe hated him. He tried to think back to what he dreamed about last night, but he couldn't remember.

Archie laughed. "Nothin' too coherent. I should've recorded it! Ya said somethin' about Giovanni, yer Numel, an' savin' the world. Ya even said my name a couple a times!" Mightyena was sitting on the carpet next to his bed, and nudged Archie, who pet it while he spoke.

"I-I did?! Ugh. Sorry. It's a thing I do sometimes, I've done it since I was a kid," Maxie explained, embarrassed. He tied his crimson hair back into a ponytail, still adjusting to the brightness of the room.

"Nah, 's cute," Archie said quietly. Maxie quirked an eyebrow; did he hear that right? "Anyway, what're we doin' today? Field work or what?" he asked, much louder.

Maxie got up and made his way to the hotel closet where he had hung up his clothes the first day. "Or what. I'm just conducting experiments and tests on the samples we collected yesterday. You can take the day off or whatever." He took out a pair of red shorts and a red and black hoodie. His entire wardrobe was pretty much red or black, he realized.

"What, yer tellin' me I can't relive high school chemistry with ya?" Archie said, sounding offended.

Maxie looked back at Archie after slipping on the hoodie. "Really? You'd want to? I mean, it's pretty boring for normal people I think. I mean, soil content tests, soil compaction tests-- it's not exactly thrilling. For normal people, at least. I love it," Maxie stated, surprised at Archie's interest. He was used to people sneering or laughing when he said he was a geologist, not asking if they could help.

"Aye, I think 's interesting! I just find the ocean more interesting. I know ya think 'm stupid, but I do have a brain in here," Archie said matter-of-factly, pointing at his forehead.

Maxie looked at him, eyes gone wide. "I don't think you're stupid!" he protested. Archie gave him a questioning look. Maxie sighed, walked over to him, and continued. "Okay, maybe I did. But that was on the first day before I even met you! All I had to go off of was your looks, and," he looked Archie up and down, "no offense, but you don't look like an intellectual," he finished, unable to hold back a smirk.

Archie scoffed. "At least I don't look like a skinny nerd, huh, Red?"

Maxie glared at him. He winked. Maxie blushed. "I gotta go change," he sputtered before leaving to the bathroom. After he changed, he checked his phone and was surprised to find texts from Courtney from last night.

[1:22 AM] Courtney: did yuo know that shell yworks for that skeevy bra downtown???? i didnt

[1:49 AM] Courtney: HOYL SHIT MAXIEMAXIE MAXIE YOU WILL NOT B ELIEVE WHAT SHE JUST TOLD ME

[1:50 AM] Courtney: okokok so we were talkin abt our wrists and shit right and she mentioned tha ther names? mutha fuckin cuortney and.......

[1:50 AM] Courtney: tabi!!! fuckin tabitha man aint that wild

[1:51 AM] Courtney: anyway i aksed if she new a guy named archie right

[1:51 AM] Courtney: she dOES and i asked if she happneed to know what his wrist name is right

[1:52 AM] Courtney: she says he has teh same name on botj wrists!! wild rite

[1:52 AM] Courtney: so i ask what name is it

[1:52 AM] Courtney: MUTHA.

[1:53 AM] Courtney: FUCKIN.

[1:53 AM] Courtney: MAXIE BITCH.

[1:53 AM] Courtney: just thouhgt you should know....... anyway im stayin the night at her place. shes rly rly cute hol don ill send a selfie

[1:54 AM] Courtney: [MULTIMEDIA MESSAGE.]

The picture attached is a picture of a shitfaced Courtney with her arm around a beautiful girl. Tan with long, curly black hair, she too looked drunk out of her mind. Shelly was kissing Courtney sloppily on the cheek, obviously aiming for her mouth. Courtney was sticking her tongue out and had her arm around Shelly's waist.

[1:54 AM] Courtney: anywayyyy ur porbably sleepin like the old man that u r lololol

[1:55 AM] Courtney: night night buddy !!!! <333333333 xoxoxo

Maxie was dumbfounded at the texts. She met Shelly? At a bar? Call him old-fashioned, but shitfaced is not the state you want to be in when you meet your soulmate. And her enemy was Tabitha?! This was an insane set of coincidences.

[9:01 AM] Maxie: Damn, Court. Congratulations on meeting her. My one question: how much did you DRINK?? You have, like, 10x my alcohol tolerance!

[9:02 AM] Courtney: i think im dead

[9:02 AM] Maxie: Oh shit, you're awake before 2 PM the day after you get drunk?! It's a Christmas miracle.

[9:03 AM] Courtney: its fuckin september

[9:03 AM] Courtney: god my phone screen is bright

[9:03 AM] Courtney: anyways shelly woke me up when she got out of bed to take a piss at like 8 am and i couldnt fall back asleep w my fuckin soulmate next to me

[9:04 AM] Maxie: Well, I'm not there to make you a prairie oyster, so good luck on functioning today.

[9:04 AM] Courtney: oh shit i forgot. damn this hangover will last foreverrrrr

[9:04 AM] Courtney: i wasnt expecting to do shit today tho

[9:05 AM] Courtney: i mean all ive done since i woke up is make out w shelly so like

[9:05 AM] Courtney: the bar of productivity is set low

[9:06 AM] Maxie: Don't puke on her. I'm surprised you can kiss through the nausea.

[9:06 AM] Courtney: havin ur soulmate will do that to u <333

[9:06 AM] Courtney: speakin of soulmates did u read my (incoherent) messages from last night?? that archie IS ur dude!!

[9:07 AM] Maxie: Yeah. I'm still processing I think. He was acting a little more... flirty last night. Maybe he saw my tattoo. Idk.

[9:07 AM] Courtney: go like kiss him in front of the cherry blossoms or some shoujo shit

[9:08 AM] Maxie: But really, I'm so happy for you and Shelly. Go back to your hungover makeout session or whatever. I have to do some work shit right now.

[9:08 AM] Courtney: oh i will bb were on round 4 ;)

[9:08 AM] Maxie: TMI, C.

[9:09 AM] Courtney: ahaha ur just jealous

[9:09 AM] Courtney: go back to ur boytoy ill ttyl

Maxie put his phone in the pocket of his shorts and blinked. Was Courtney telling the truth? She was blackout drunk last night, so who knows if either her or Shelly were telling the 100% truth. After seeing the M on Archie's wrist, though, he realized it was probably right. That would explain Archie's persistence and flirtatious behavior...

Maxie shook his head and splashed cold water on his face. He pinched himself too for good measure. Yep, not dreaming. Okay. Okay. He went back out to face Archie. Fuck that promise he made to himself, he thought. He was his soulmate, dammit.

Archie was standing at the coffee maker when Maxie walked in. He raised a cup to hand to Maxie. Maxie was surprised that Archie made him coffee and took it gratefully. "Did your friend text you last night? Apparently Shelly found her soul mate."

Maxie laughed, pouring creamer into his coffee. "Yes, she did. She sent me a pretty wasted picture of thek, too." He found the picture on his phone and showed it to Archie.

"Yep, that's Shelly alright," he confirmed, smiling. "They seem happy, though, from what I could see." He squinted at his own phone. "Not that any of her texts were coherent."

Maxie laughed as he walked over to the desk. "Neither are Courtney's. Anyway, did you want to help? I have a couple of rock samples with your name on them," he joked, looking back at Archie and dangling a rock in a plastic bag at him.

"Of course," Archie laughed, dragging a chair to the desk next to Maxie. To both fit at the desk, they had to sit close enough that their knees were touching. Maxie tried to keep his composure as he explained the finer details of the tests he planned to conduct on the samples. The pair both put on gloves, Maxie made Archie put on glasses despite his complaints, and Maxie pulled out one of the vials of chemicals.

Maxie gave the first sample--a soil sample in a glass vial--to Archie and took out a few pipets. "Two drops of chemical A and seven of B. Make sure to wipe the pipet before dipping into the second one," he instructed, digging deeper into the case of chemicals to find the next one he planned to use. At this point, Maxie could do these invesigative experiments in his sleep and Archie, while still struggling a little, was surprisingly good.

As Maxie tried to explain how to properly invert the vial, Archie cut him off. "I've done this stuff before, Red. Marine biology, 'member?"

Maxie blinked and turned back to what he was doing. "Just wanted to make sure you didn't accidentally do something wrong." Archie rolled his eyes and continued to work.

A couple of hours passed. Small talk, mostly Maxie giving instructions, was the only thing that broke the silence. Maxie saw Archie smirk out of his peripheral vision, but continued working.

"Excuse me," Archie said quietly, extending his arm around Maxie's shoulders to reach the kit of chemicals. Maxie froze, turning his head to make eye contact with Archie. This was deliberate. Maxie reminded himself that Archie was most likely his soul mate and relaxed into his arm despite the burning he felt in his ears. Archie pretended to dig in the case for a bit before finally retracting his arm and returning to his work. "Thanks," he nodded.

Maxie swallowed and decided to take it one step further. He scooted over in his seat so their thighs touched, feeling the heat that radiated from Archie. Archie looked at him in earnest, his eyes surprised. Maxie refused to look at him, scared he would back down if he did, and resumed working. "Invert your vial ten times, please."

Archie finally nodded and began the inversions, moving his foott so his right leg and Maxie's left leg were practically intertwined. Maxie struggled to keep a straight face; was he really playing fucking footsies? With his soul mate?!

They continued to work like that until they both decided to take a lunch break.

"D'ya wanna take the rest of the day off? We only have, like, two more tests to do," Archie suggested as he took off his gloves.

Maxie thought as he packed up the kit. "Well... you're right. We do only have two tests left; since you were helping, it went a lot faster." Archie beamed. "If you really want to, we can take the rest of the day off," Maxie gave in with a soft smile. "It's only..." He checked his phone. "5:13. What did you have in mind?"

Archie turned so his entire body faced Maxie. "Well," he began, a sinister smile creeping onto his face, "I was thinkin' we could go to that Pokémon Mansion?"

Maxie blanched. "The Pokémon Mansion?! Isn't it haunted and generally creepy as hell?"

Archie nodded. "That's what makes it fun! C'mon, I won't let ya get possessed or whatever. Anyway, 's not like there's much else to do on this island. There's the volcano, the Pokémon Center, the lab, and the gym. I mean, there's a couple a places to eat, but other than that, nada. Let's go, it'll be fun, I promise ya!"

Maxie scrutinized his pouting face. "You just want to scare the shit out of me," he said logically.

Archie shrugged. "Only a little," he winked.

Maxie sighed. "Okay, fine. Just because there's nothing else to do," he relented. It did sound kind of fun, and it could be an excuse to be closer to Archie. God, what was he thinking? He was acting like a lovestruck teenage girl!

Archie flashed that signature Archie grin at him (Seeing that reinforced Maxie's teen-girl-crush.) He clapped him on his shoulder. "That's the spirit!"

Maxie already regretted saying yes. He hated haunted houses, and those were FAKE ones! He hoped there were no ghost Pokémon. He reminded Archie to bring his Pokémon and sighed, trying to calm himself. This would be fun, he told himself. Fun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Little bit of filler/focus on Courtney & Shelly, but I promise, next chapter will be very Hardenshipping-y ;D


	6. Haunting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Excuse any spelling errors; I type these on my phone w/o a beta and it was glitching super bad today ahaha

Maxie reflected on the series of bad ideas that lead to this situation.

First, he decided to be friendly with Archie. Second, he decided to let him work with him. Third, he decided to let them take the rest of the day off. Finally, he decided to let Archie convince him to go to this haunted mansion.

Maxie doesn't like haunted houses. Or ghosts (which he didn't believe in). Or horror movies. Or anything even remotely scary. The only people that knew of this fear were Courtney and Tabitha--and now Archie as Maxie trembled whenever he heard a noise.

The two were walking side by side through the dilapidated mansion. You could tell that it was beautiful in its day, with the long rugs and Roman columns. However, now the rugs were faded and the columns fallen, giving the place an eerie vibe. The sun was setting and Maxie wished they were anywhere else. The beach must have a beautiful view--

A creak sounded from above, making Maxie flinch. "Arceus, Archie, did we have to do this? It's not too late, we can still leave," he pleaded, trying to gather his composure.

Archie laughed. "That was prob'ly just the wind. Almost all the windows are shattered. Ya scared, princess?" he joked, poking Maxie.

Maxie huffed. "No. Just... uncomfortable. I'm cold." He wasn't completely lying; he forgot a jacket, and the combination of the relentless sea breeze and the quickly dissipating sun resulted in rapidly dropping temperatures.

Archie raised his eyebrows. "Need my jacket?" he offered. He was wearing a Hoenn Wildlife Foundation hoodie, and Maxie thought it looked pretty warm.

Maxie declined. "I'm not that cold, man." He regretted the fact that Archie didn't have a stupid nickname like "princess" or "Red". As they walked through the rubble, he realized it wasn't all that bad. They walked past a statue. Maxie could've sworn he saw its eyes flash red, which made him instinctively grab onto Archie's arm.

Archie swiveled his head to see what Maxie was so scared about. "It's just a statue, Max."

"Its eyes flashed, I swear!" Maxie hissed, refusing to let go of Archie's sleeve. "Let's just go up those stairs, huh?" He led Archie by his arm up the stairs, eager to get away from the statue.

Archie laughed, following behind him. As they went higher, the wind became stronger, and Maxie began to shiver. He shouldn't have worn a thin t-shirt in retrospect, but his pride kept him from asking for Archie's sweater.

"What even is the objective here? To reach the top floor or something?" Maxie asked grumpily, letting go of Archie once they reached the top of the stairs.

Archie shrugged. "I dunno. Explore? Just to pass the time. I think this is pretty cool," he said, taking in the room. Shards of glass, plaster, and drywall were littered the ground by the windows. He gingerly grabbed Maxie's wrist and stepped over the debris carefully, watching Maxie so he didn't get hurt either. Maxie looked at Archie's hand around his wrist. His skinny wrist was completely enveloped by Archie's large hand; he could easily touch his forefinger to his first knuckle on his thumb and still have extra room around Maxie's wrist. The sheer size difference between their hands was ridiculous; Maxie made a mental note to hold their hands up to each other's sometime to see the difference.

The two made their way to the window with the least amount of jutting glass and looked out. The waves were lazily lapping at the sands of the beach and the rocks at the base of the volcano as the sun set, casting the entire scene in a spectrum of oranges, reds, and purples. The moon was rising to the west and the sun was dipping into the ocean to their east, making the sky an oil painting peppered with clouds. "Wow," Maxie uttered, speechless. The scene was one of the most beautiful things he'd ever seen in his life. After taking in the scene, he looked back at Archie and caught him staring. Maxie flushed; how long had Archie been watching him? He pushed up his glasses. "What's wrong?"

Archie had a small, fond smile. "Nothin'. 'S a rare occasion that yer quiet, so 'm tryin' to savor it," he laughed. Maxie rolled his eyes and huffed, turning back to the window. He felt disappointed. Why was he disappointed?

He thought about that, looking into the distance. He was surprised out of his thoughts when he felt a warm prescence on his shoulders.

Archie had draped his jacket around Maxie. He refused to make eye contact. "Ya were shiverin'. Seemed like ya needed it more than me," he muttered. Maxie felt warmth, not only physically but in his heart instead. He gave up his jacket for Maxie? That's... sweet. Especially for Archie, who doesn't seem like much of the romantic. Maxie fought the urge to give him a bear hug and instead put the jacket on.

Archie finally met Maxie's eyes. "Thank you. It's a little big..." he said, trailing into chuckles. The sleeves extended far past his hands and the back of the jacket extended halfway down his thighs. Maxie loved it. It smelled distinctly of the ocean, sea salt, and... coconut? Whatever it was, Maxie loved it.

"Well, of course it is, yer a twig!" Archie exclaimed, bursting into laughter. The pair laughed together at the window as the sun dropped below the sea entirely.

Suddenly, the mansion was less scary than before. Still scary, but less so.

They walked down another hallway, walking into the first room they saw. The room was even more decrepit than the hallway; the rug torn to shreds and the wallpaper and drywall long gone, exposing the wooden bones of the walls.

Maxie heard another creak and grabbed onto Archie's forearm. This one sounded a lot closer and louder, or was Maxie's brain tricking himself? Either way, he wasn't complaining; he was wearing Archie's jacket and clinging onto his arm. Call him clingy or a hopeless romantic, but he felt a lot safer surrounded by Archie.

Another creak, this time a lot sharper and closer. "Y-you sure that's the wind?" Maxie asked cautiously. The sounds were still terrifying, even if Archie was there to protect him.

Archie led him to one of the holes in the floor. "I think it came from over here, it's probably just a Growlithe," he assured him, his other hand on his Pokéballs.

Maxie leaned forward, trying to get a better look down into the bottom floor. It was pitch black, though. He heard the flapping of... wings? "Is that a P-Pidgey?" he asked, trying to convince himself it's nothing bad. His trembling was noticed by Archie.

"Probably. Mightyena, come out!" Archie called, letting Mightyena out of its ball. It yipped happily, sitting and sniffing the hole. "What's down there, boy?" Archie asked. It suddenly whimpered, turning to paw at Archie's feet. He went wide-eyed. "He never backs down like that!" he exclaimed, letting Mightyena back into its ball. "What could possibly be-"

Suddenly, a creature burst from the hole with a blast. Heat blasted the room, singing the peeling bits of remaining wallpaper. The flash of light was enough to temporarily blind the two. Maxie and Archie were sent flying backwards. Archie grabbed him, enveloping him so he wouldn't recieve the majority of the force. He opened his eye to see what the source of the explosion was.

Moltres had emerged, its flaming wingspan taking up the entire room. It screeched at Maxie and Archie before flying out the door faster than either could process. The heat dissipated quickly, leaving Archie hugging a fetal-position Maxie on the wooden floor.

The two were facing each other and Archie nudged the crown of Maxie's head with his jaw. "Max? Maxie, are you awake?" he asked quickly, tilting Maxie's head up by placing a finger under his chin.

Maxie blinked blindly; his glasses had landed about five feet away. "What just happened? Was that... Moltres?"

Archie looked at him with worry. "Maybe, I dunno," he replied. He slowly tucked a strand of red hair behind Maxie's ear so he could see his entire face and began to speak again. "Are ya okay? I took the brunt of the impact, but you were hit hard, too."

Maxie squinted, trying to focus on Archie's face. "Yes, I'm fine. Just blind. Where are my glasses?"

Archie let Maxie out of his embrace and reached to retrieve the glasses. He gave them to Maxie, who gratefully put them on. "Much better. Thank you, Archie." He looked at him. "For saving my life," he added.

Archie looked to the side. "Aw, Max, I didn't 'save yer life', I just made sure ya didn't get hurt." They stood, brushing off their clothes. "Now what does this mean for the investigation?" Archie asked.

Maxie looked at the evidence of burns on the wall. "Well... we could tell Giovanni and complete the job. Or we could keep it to ourselves. Let Moltres keep roaming. Giovanni doesn't need a Moltres," Maxie reasoned, turning to face Archie.

Archie's face scrunched up. "I dunno... Won't it be a little obvious that we had somethin' to do with it? I mean, same place same time," he argued.

Maxie sighed. "Good point. We'll see. For now, can we just get out of this damn haunted house? I'm exhausted!" He wasn't lying; being scared takes a lot of energy.

Arcie chuckled and grabbed Maxie's wrist. "Of course, princess. Let's leave."


	7. Dreams

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another ship-y chapter :D Thank you to everyone who has shown support for this silly little project, it is very very appreciated <3333

Maxie rolled over in bed again. He opened his eyes, taking in the gentle moonlight that filtered through the windows. This was stupid. Ghost Pokémon are stupid. The fact that he couldn't fall asleep after going to a haunted house was stupid. Maxie sighed and turned to his left side. The glaring red numbers of the alarm clock read 2:38 AM. Archie was sleeping soundly, spread like a starfish on his bed and his snoring loudly. Why couldn't Maxie sleep like that?

An idea crossed his mind. He paused and humored it for a moment. Archie's bed could easily hold another person. From what Maxie had experienced, he radiated heat, as well. He definitely would be able to sleep if he was cuddling Archie...

He shook his head to clear the thought. Unrealistic. They had only known each other for three days! Maxie wasn't even a cuddly person; he always shook Courtney and Tabitha off when they tried to maintain any physical contact with him. He especially hated cuddling, as his lanky limbs always fell asleep and the close proximity to other people made him nervous. Maxie rolled over and glanced at the closet. There may be a reasonable alternative.

He slid out of bed as quietly as possible, but he was pretty sure not even an Earthquake from Groudon himself could wake Archie up. He opened the closet and silently searched through it. He found what he was looking for and withdrew it, wrapping it around himself and diving back into bed.

The jacket was remarkably soft and smelled like Archie. The sea salt and Piña colada scent relaxed Maxie to his core; he never experienced his guard lowered this much. He clutched the jacket close to his chest and drifted into a peaceful sleep, in which he dreamed of the beach and a boardwalk.

Maxie and Archie walked down the boardwalk, ice cream in hand and sunshine beating down on them. They were talking about nothing and Wingull flew overheard, their cries mixing with the sound of waves crashing. Archie slipped his big hand into Maxie's. Nothing felt unnatural or forced; it felt innate, normal. Maxie smiled and continued talking about the weather, licking his ice cream.

They continued like this for a while, the clouds moving lazily overhead as they advanced down the boardwalk. They tipped a person playing the ukelele as they walked by and Archie spun Maxie, dancing. Maxie giggled and held onto Archie's hand tighter.

Suddenly, Archie began to pull away from his grasp. Maxie frowned; what was wrong with him? He didn't want this to end. As Maxie held tighter, Archie withdrew farther.

Maxie's eyes flew open, looking up at a laughing Archie. "Let go of my damn jacket, ya thief!" Maxie felt his entire body flush with heat as he realized what had happened. He was clutching onto Archie's jacket as he tried to wrench it away from him. Oh Arceus, he must have had an iron grip on it if Archie couldn't easily remove it from him.

"I-I-I'm so sorry!" Maxie stammered, releasing the jacket immediately and sitting up to face Archie. He put his hands to his face to hide his blush. "I just, last night, uh, I couldn't sleep and, uh, I didn't want to bother youbutIneededsomethingtoholdontoandthiswastheeasiestanditsmelledlikeyouand--" he explained, getting faster and faster as he went on and explained more embarassing parts of the story.

Archie roared with laughter and Maxie felt ridiculously embarrassed. "Red, if ya wanted to sleep with me ya could've just asked!"

An awkward pause.

"...You know what I meant, ya little cunt!" he exclaimed as he punched Maxie's shoulder. Maxie burst into laughter, falling back on the bed. Archie followed suit, laying beside Maxie and crying from laughter. "But really, Max, if yer spooked by ghosts or whatever you can sleep in my bed with me. I mean, I've got plenty of room, and ya ain't that big," he continued, looking at Maxie with a softness in his expression.

Maxie has blushed more in the past three days than he had in the rest of his life combined. "T-thank you, Archie," he stuttered, nodding. Him and Archie were incredibly close and Maxie could feel his heat. Quick, need an excuse to leave... "I gotta piss." Dammit, Maxie. Not your smoothest moment.

Archie thought so too, as he snorted indignantly. "Go piss. I already showered so I don't need the bathroom." He stood and walked over to the coffeemaker to make his and Maxie's morning cups.

Maxie skittered off to the bathroom. Why in the hell did he say that? He doesn't have a romantic bone in his body. He decided to take a (cold) shower. He needed to wake himself up and get his mind back in the work setting. The issue of the Moltres remained; should they tell Giovanni? He stripped and hopped in the shower--he had a lot to think about.

\---

When Maxie got out, he realized he made a fatal error. In his hurry to escape the awkward situation, he had neglected to grab a change of clothes. He wasn't going to wear the clothes from last night, but he also wasn't going back out there in the nude. He glanced at the towel. He could fasten it at his waist normally, but he didn't want to expose his torso. He definitely wasn't going to fasten it at his chest, as he wasn't a woman and that would be weird. Damn his deep-rooted insecurities, he thought. He settled for wrapping the towel around his hips and braced himself before walking out to quickly and hopefully unnoticably grab a change of clothes.

This was thrown out the window once Archie wolf-whistled as he scurried out of the bathroom. "Shut up, I just forgot to get clothes," he huffed, digging through the closet. He felt Archie's eyes bore into his scrawny shoulderblades and he tried to suppress a wave of goosebumps. Maxie was not a fan of being shirtless, especially around people. Double-especially around his soulmate. It didn't help that his wet hair was touching his shoulders, dripping moisture onto his back and chilling him.

"Ya shouldn't be so insecure, y'know," Archie suggested nonchalantly.

Maxie froze and looked over his shoulder at Archie wide-eyes. "What do you mean?"

"Well, yer obviously uncomfortable, an' I don't get it. I mean, half the time we're in here 'm shirtless," Archie said, shrugging.

"Well- I- you- I'm not you." Maxie strugged to find the right words. "You're... ridiculously muscular. I didn't even know you could have eight abs!" He looked at Archie, still refusing to turn his body around.

Archie chuckled. "And? I don't care if yer a twig, 's not like 'm gonna judge ya or somethin'," he reasoned. "I mean, if yer really, really against it, you don't have to, but I just want ya to relax some. Ya seem wound up to a ten 24/7." He rubbed the back of his neck, looking sheepish.

Maxie scoffed. "It's cause I am constantly wound to a ten." He thought back to last night when he felt no stress while clinging to Archie's jacket. He thought for a moment and finally relented. "But you do have a point. I'll try to... relax some. But I'm never dropping trou or whatever the fuck you want me to do," he joked.

Archie laughed. "Trust me, Red, I don't want ya to." He turned back to his coffee, adding sugar.

Maxie fished out his Rocket shirt and pants and walked back to the bathroom to get dressed, feeling a lot better about starting to let his guard down around Archie. (To be fair, his guard has about twenty layers.)

He emerged and gladly accepted his cup of coffee from Archie, pouring lots of creamer into it. "So. Issue number one on the agenda today is figuring out what to do with the Moltres intel," he began, stirring his coffee.

Archie leaned against the counter. "Well, I would hate to jeopardize Moltres by givin' Giovanni any information on its whereabouts," he thought out loud, stirring his drink as well. "but Arceus knows Giovanni'd be pissed if we didn't mention it to him and he found out in the news."

"But will it be in the news? Maybe nobody saw it," Maxie hoped.

Archie quirked an eyebrow. "We both know that's bullshit, Max, 's the first sighting of the damn thing in a couple decades at least."

Maxie begrudgingly nodded. "Yeah. Sounded stupid even to me. So what do we say? We could not tell him. If he asks, we were working on the volcano and saw something screaming and flying by, but we didn't know what it was."

Archie looked into his coffee for a minute, then blew on it and took a sip. "Better than any idea I've got," he said with finality.

Maxie nodded and took a sip of his coffee, immediately swallowing and coughing. "Shit, I burnt my mouth!" he yelped, putting his mug down.

Archie paused for a second and looked at him slyly. "Want me to kiss it an' make it better?" he smirked, taking another drink of his (much cooler) coffee. Maxie scoffed and rolled his eyes, making a comment about how juvenile Archie was while secretly feeling flustered. That seemed to sum up their relationship, huh, thought Maxie.

After Maxie checked his emails a couple of times, hoping for no email from Giovanni, he and Archie decided it was time to go back to the volcano to look for Moltres. They both agreed that it was most likely there that it flew to.

They decided to bring a trove of Pokéballs and potions in case they actually encountered Moltres in addition to their kit and Archie's Pokémon as per usual.

"Ready to go, princess?" Archie quipped once both were prepared, holding his elbow out like an escort.

Maxie rolled his eyes but decided to humor him. "Of course," he replied, grabbing Archie's arm as they stepped out of the shabby hotel room.


	8. Capture

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this one's late! Visiting my family. Anyway, enjoy! C:

When Archie and Maxie reached the upper levels of the volcano, they agreed that it was warmer today than it was the other day. Maxie, who generally enjoyed warmer weather, had to take off his coat and tie his hair back into a small ponytail. They idly talked about the cause of the heat--the season or Moltres?--as they climbed the steep slopes.

Maxie thought back to only two days ago when they were on the volcano last time. It was only two days ago, but it felt like an eternity. He looked back at Archie, who was climbing and looking up at him. "C'mon, move yer bony backside!" he quipped, tapping on Maxie's calf impatiently.

Maxie snapped out of his reverie and finished climbing up to a plateau near the top of the volcano. Thankfully, the peak of volcano wasn't very high up, so they could breathe easily. Archie climbed up right after, clapping Maxie on the shoulder. "Isn't the view beautiful?" he remarked, looking out onto the sea.

Maxie rolled his eyes. "Sightsee later. We need to find Moltres." He ducked into the cave, determination in his eyes. He always loved the firey legendaries; they reminded him of Groudon. He used to read books about Groudon and Kyogre when he was little and still lived in Hoenn. It gave him an escape from the relentless bullying at school and he latched onto the descriptions of Groudon's incredible power. Groudon wasn't technically a fire type, but he was still magma-themed. He remembered how happy he was when he got Numel because it was similar to Groudon...

He snapped back to reality once he realized he was blindly navigating the cave with no idea of where he's going. The ever-enveloping darkness didn't help as Maxie scanned his surroundings. He figured he should wait for Archie, but Moltres beckoned. He walked around, running his hand along the damp wall of the cave so he didn't run into anything. He found a narrow passageway and followed it eagerly. He felt his bag to make sure he had the Ultra Balls, and upon feeling them continued with renewed vigor.

The hallway was so narrow it was just a tad wider than Maxie's shoulders. Archie was going to have trouble when he had to walk through this, Maxie thought. Was Archie even following him? He must've been. He heard a noise at the end of the tunnel and started running, feeling the heat gradually build. The light was starting to spread, too, but Maxie was still blind. He must be getting close! Either that or the volcano was erupting.

"Max!" Maxie turned his head upon hearing his name echo on the stone walls. Archie had called his name, and it sounds like from far away. Maxie didn't have the patience to wait for him so he called back. "Archie, hurry up!" He continued walking.

The air seemed to get denser, making Maxie breath heavier. He must be getting close! He was practically trembling with excitement. He was going to encounter Moltres! The legendary bird! Holy shit.

Suddenly the passage opened to a clearance. He paused. He decided to wait here for Archie to catch up. This room was less damp than the first one, yet the air was heavier and warmer and filled with ash. Maxie was thankful for the fact that his childhood asthma was just in his childhood. He tugged the collar of his turtleneck Rocket shirt over his mouth and nose, trying to filter the air.

"Arceus damn it, Red, why can't ya just slow the fuck down?" Archie grouched upon entering the room. "'M too broad to fit through that passage an' I had to shimmy," He complained, rubbing his shoulder.

"Sorry. I got excited," Maxie explained sheepishly, pulling the neck of his sweater down. "Anyways, where do you th--"

He was interrupted by a massive crash. Maxie hadn't realized that one wall of the room was a collection of boulders until those boulders exploded, debris flying across the room. Archie reflexively bear-hugged Maxie to protect him from the shrapnel and Maxie buried his face in Archie's neck, clinging to him like a Komala. The room's temperature must've jumped twenty degrees; now the air was so hot it was difficult to breathe and ashy dust flew through the air. Maxie peeked over Archie's trapezius and saw the flaming phoenix itself, screeching loudly.

Moltres' body was golden and iridescent, its feathers shifting from goldenrod to crimson mimicking the inferno of its wings. The wings were pure fire streaming from its bones, the flames licking the air and its body. Moltres' eyes were glowing gold over its long, sharp beak and its flaming crest blazed with life. Maxie was awestruck, his mouth hanging open in amazement. He'd been dreaming of this moment ever since he was a kid and he clung to Archie harder.

Maxie had to yell into Archie's ear for him to hear over the explosion and the ringing in his ears. "Release Mightyena and Carvanha, we need to weaken it!"

Archie nodded against Maxie's shoulder blade. He withdrew from him and reached to his belt, releasing his Pokémon. Moltres screamed again, his crest and tail flames igniting further with every cry.

Carvanha used Surf at Archie's command. The wave of water crashed onto Moltres and momentarily dulled its flame, causing smoke to fill the room and burn Maxie's eyes. But Moltres reignited an instant later with renewed anger. It Flamethrowered the Mightyena, weakening it to about one-third of its health. He wouldn't survive another one without fainting.

Maxie shakily threw a Pokéball. Moltres cried, the Ultra Ball containing it easily. The ball shaked once then broke, the legendary bird screaming and opening its wingspan fully. Maxie was still dazed by its beauty. Carvanha used Surf again and Mightyena Crunched it, attempting to lower its health enough for capture. Moltres used Safeguard and Archie sighed in relief, moving to retrieve a Hyper Potion from his bag.

Maxie cautiously threw another Pokéball. The Ultra Ball didn't even shake before breaking. Maxie took a deep breath. Numel was shaking in its ball on his hip.

Moltres screeched again, releasing an Ancient Power. The rocks across the room levitated and flew at Maxie and Archie. The two dived out of the way, but the rocks created a divider between them. Archie and his Pokémon were stuck without any contact with Moltres.

It was just Maxie and Moltres.

Archie yelled at Maxie to be careful and not get hurt. Maxie screamed in frustration. Moltres looked confused, tilting its head. "Giovanni will take you forcefully! You'll be forced to fucking destroy humanity! For humanity's sake, please just get into this Arceus damned Pokéball!" he cried, looking up at Moltres defiantly. He was over a foot shorter and maybe a quarter of its wingspan, and he didn't know if Moltres could even understand what he was saying, but he didn't care. Archie could be hurt and Maxie was scared because Numel couldn't do anything and Maxie never thought that Moltres could actually kill him as a kid but looking at him now it seemed highly plausible. His thoughts all streamed together, his brain a run-on sentence and he finally threw the Ultra Ball.

The ball shook once. Twice. And it clicked shut, the heat gone from the room. Ash flew into Maxie's throat and he coughed, crying a little from emotion and stress. Archie must've been trying to push the boulders away, because the rocks tumbled to the ground and he was able to reach Maxie. "Holy fuckin' shit Red! You caught it! You caught Moltres!" He hugged Maxie even harder than he did when Moltres first appeared. He lifted Maxie into the air, spinning in circles.

Maxie was still in shock. The Pokéball was still sitting in the center of the room. He caught a Moltres. No, not A Moltres, THE Moltres. What the fuck? Archie gently let him down and looked at him. "What's wrong, Max?"

Maxie blinked and looked at Archie. "What did I just do? I have a level five Numel and a level fifty Moltres. What the fuck?" He started laughing, his hand going up to feel his face. Archie started laughing too, a much deeper and more resonant laugh. Maxie decided to embrace Archie once more, still in a dreamlike state of bliss. "Thank you, Archie. Thank you so much. For Moltres. For putting up with me. For being my friend. For everything." He dug his face into Archie's neck again, having to stand on his tip toes.

"'S all you, Red. Yer... amazin', ya know that?" he said softly as he hugged Maxie back again. "Yeah, ya might be a little bitch sometimes, and ya really test my patience, but yer a fuckin' catch. Yer smart as hell and yer actually pretty cute, eh?"

Maxie pulled back and blushed, looking Archie in the eyes. "S-seriously? I thought you hated me..."

Archie brushed back a strand Maxie's red hair. "At first I thought ya were an annoyin' little scamp, yeah. But then I got to know ya and yer actually not all that bad. Don't make me take it back," he joked, smiling down at him.

Maxie's heart was pounding in his chest. He was... cute? He'd been approached in bars and at parties, but normally it was either straight guys thinking he was a chick or straight girls looking for a gay best friend. Nobody had said he was cute before. Maxie really didn't know how to handle compliments. He buried his face in his hands. Why was he so pale? Whenever he blushed his face turned as red as his hair.

Archie gently moved his hands away from his face. He was very close now, and Maxie felt his stomach in his throat. Maxie could smell him; sea salt now mixed with ash and sulphur. Archie was leaning in closer and Maxie looked at him doe-eyed. He'd never kissed anyone before. (Yes. He was saving his first kiss for his soulmate. He had gotten tired of explaining it to people over the years. Not that anyone had wanted to kiss him before, anyway.) Maxie could feel Archie's breath on his chapped lips. He made a mental note to invest in chapstick, even though his brain was short circuiting.

Suddenly, Mightyena jumped on Archie's back, causing him to fall onto the smooth stone floor by Maxie's feet. Archie let out a stream of curse words, Mightyena licking his face happily. Maxie giggled, slightly relieved yet disappointed. "We should get going," he suggested, scooping up Moltres' Pokéball.

"Yeah, yeah," Archie grumbled, putting Mightyena back in its ball. Maxie felt oddly proud at Archie's grumpy attitude now that he didn't kiss him. Maxie's heart was still beating out of his chest though; he needed to confront Archie about this soulmate business as soon as possible.


	9. Confession

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the super late update! Anyways, here's the chapter. (Warning for heavily implied sex at the end, but not enough to move up the rating I think? Idk.)
> 
> Enjoy!

Maxie couldn't get him out of his head for the entire duration of the walk back to town. He absentmindedly touched his fingers to his lips, deep in thought. He wanted to kiss him. He must be his soulmate; but if so, why didn't he say so earlier? He continued to think about this throughout Archie's rambling as they walked side-by-side into the hotel.

"Maaaaxie?" Archie said, waving a hand in front of his face to snap him out of his thoughts. "I said, what're we gonna do to celebrate?" He unlocked and opened the door to their room, allowing Maxie to enter first.

"Oh. I wasn't going to celebrate. After all, we still have a probably pissed Giovanni to deal with," Maxie muttered, sitting at the desk and opening his laptop. His fingers froze over the keys once he was faced with the new email screen. What was he going to say?

"Really?! But we caught--" Archie began, sitting on a bed.

Maxie cut him off. "Thin walls, Archie. Quiet down," he tutted.

Archie rolled his eyes and continued. "We fuckin' caught Moltres. That's at least, like, a dinner or somethin'," he argued, crossing his arms like a petulant child.

Maxie finally began typing and Archie asked what he was saying. "We investigated a nearby cave to search for fossils and came up blank. That way, we can assure him that we weren't at the scene of the crime- the volcano." Seemingly satisfied with himself, he pressed send and closed the laptop with a sense of finality.

"Good plan, Red," Archie complimented, turning Moltres's Pokéball over in his hands a few times absentmindedly. Maxie stood, announcing he was going to take a shower, but Archie grabbed his wrist. "Uh, actually, I wanted to talk to ya, Max."

Maxie felt terror build in his stomach and he turned to slowly look at him. "Yes?" He pushed up his glasses with his free hand, trying to comfort himself with familiarity. Archie pulled him down to sit next to him on the bed.

"Well, I more wanted to show ya somethin'. Ya see, I'm sure you've noticed I haven't shown ya my wrists," he explained sheepishly. Maxie's heart jumped into his throat and he felt his pulse quicken drastically. Holy shit, was he about to..?

Maxie nodded astutely. "Yes, I have observed." He hoped he didn't sound as nervous as he was. He swallowed, trying to steel himself.

Instead of replying, Archie just stuck out his wrists for Maxie to read. And read them Maxie did; after all, they both had his name on them, as perfect and dark as Archie's name was on his own wrists. Maxie trembled, slowly taking Archie's wrists into his slender fingers. He gently traced the letters, feeling the sharp angles of the M just like he did with the A on his wrists. Maxie. Maxie. Two names, written plainly, sans-serif, black ink. Maxie's mind and heart raced, his tongue caught in his throat. Archie really was his soulmate, holy shit, his soulmate and soul enemy was right here, and he was beautiful but also annoying and he couldn't think straight and... was he crying?

Archie looked surprised at his reactions once he looked up from their hands. His eyes were filled with worry as he slowly brought his calloused thumb to Maxie's cheek, wiping away a tear. "Why are ya cryin', Red?" he asked in a softer tone of voice than Maxie had ever heard come from his lips. He took Maxie's cheek in his hand and pulled his face up to look at him.

Maxie laughed, unable to believe that this was happening. Why was he crying? "I... I don't know. Why didn't you tell me before?" he asked sincerely, looking into Archie's dark blue eyes.

Now it was Archie's turn to chuckle. "Well, I wanted ya to love me for me, an' not for the name on my wrists... was that stupid?"

Maxie rolled his eyes and felt his chest burst with affection. "Everything you do is stupid," he muttered and built up the courage to slowly, gently lean forward until their lips connected. Was he even doing this right? Arceus, he was a grown man and he was fretting over his first kiss like a teenage boy.

He must be doing this right, he thought, when Archie smiled against his mouth and put his hand on the nape of Maxie's neck, fingers tangling in his hair. Maxie's entire body flushed with heat and he was sure his face was redder than his hair at this point. He realized he had subconsciously hoped for this since Archie first entered the room and slammed into Maxie's jaw, no matter how hard he tried to convince himself otherwise. Who gave a shit if Archie was his enemy? Maxie sure didn't as Archie eagerly moved his lips, guiding and relaxing a nervous Maxie. His beard scratched Maxie's chin in a way that Maxie decided wasn't totally unpleasant.

They pulled away and Maxie was surprised to see a blush on Archie's cheeks. "Ya had no idea how much I wanted to do that," he joked, lacing his fingers with Maxie's in his lap.

"R-Really?" Maxie squeaked, self-conscious of his voice now. He was still reeling from the reality of the situation that Archie really was his soulmate.

Archie nodded with that characterisic stupid grin plastered on his face, gently nudging Maxie's forehead with his. "Yer cute when yer stupid," he laughed as Maxie punched his shoulder.

Once they calmed down, Maxie posed a question. "Well, what do we do about the enemy part?"

Archie shrugged nonchalantly. "Never really thought about that part too much. Why don't we just celebrate the soulmates thing for a while, eh?" he smirked salaciously, snaking a hand around Maxie's waist.

Maxie gasped in surprise, slapping Archie's hand. "Do I look like a cheap whore?! Arceus, at least take me out for dinner and a movie first!" he laughed as Archie pulled him closer, kissing his cheek. "I need to take that shower, anyway, so keep it in your fucking pants," Maxie teased, remembering why he got up in the first place.

Archie cried out, refusing to let go of Maxie's forearm. "Nooo! We just fuckin' found out that we're soulmates an' ya wanna take a shower?" he asked incredulously.

"Yep. Glad you understand," Maxie winked, prying himself out of Archie's grip and escaping to the bathroom. Once out of Archie's sight, he jumped in the air, pumping his fists and letting out all of his pent-up energy. Archie was his soulmate! He found him after twenty-four fucking years! He didn't care how embarrassing his victory dance may have been; he was fucking thrilled. He was interrupted by his phone chiming on the sink, which he picked up immediately.

[6:59 PM] Courtney: long time no text, huh?

[7:00 PM] Maxie: Sorry, Court, I've been so busy with Archie. But HOLY SHIT YOU WILL NOT BELIEVE WHAT JUST HAPPENED

[7:00 PM] Courtney: idk some gay shit probably?

[7:01 PM] Maxie: Good guess. HE JUST REVEALED THAT YES, HE IS MY SOULMATE.

[7:01 PM] Courtney: HOLY SHIT DUDE REALLY

[7:01 PM] Maxie: YES!

[7:02 PM] Courtney: AKDJFJSKAUWIEKDJDHJSKSKFJJCJS

[7:02 PM] Courtney: SORRY IM JUST SO EXCITED FOR YOU OH MY ARCEUS

[7:03 PM] Courtney: what the fuck are you doing texting me right now go get him!

[7:03 PM] Maxie: I was about to take a shower when he told me so I'm about to do that. Also I had my first kiss. (Note: beards are really weird.)

[7:04 PM] Courtney: asjfjgkfksjjd my little nerd boy is growing up!! im so proud of u :')

[7:04 PM] Maxie: Thanks, I guess?

[7:04 PM] Courtney: ahaha archie just texted shelly too lmfaooo

[7:05 PM] Maxie: Hah. Anyways. How's Giovanni? He's not suspicious about anything is he?

[7:05 PM] Courtney: suspicious of what, max? if its about the soulmate thing then no :P

Maxie realized he didn't tell Courtney about the Moltres escapade. He groaned internally and resigned to tell her later, maybe over a Skype call.

[7:06 PM] Maxie: Agh. Long story. I'll tell you later. I gotta take my shower

[7:07 PM] Courtney: lmfaoo with or without archie

[7:07 PM] Maxie: You two are literally 14 what the fuck.

[7:08 PM] Courtney: ;))))))))))))))) ttyl bb

[7:08 PM] Maxie: Later.

He turned off his phone and finally stripped, hopping into the shower. He took a hotter-than-normal shower that time.

\---

When he exited the bathroom, clad in only an oversized t-shirt and boxers, Archie was staring intently at Moltres's Pokéball, seemingly deep in thought. "What're you thinking about? How great I am?" Maxie joked as he rummaged through the closet for a pair of pants.

Archie surprised Maxie as he walked up behind him and placed his hands on his narrow hips, placing his chin on his shoulder comfortably. Maxie felt his face flush, his skin burning where Archie made contact. He really wished he had pants on. "Nah. Just thinkin' about Moltres."

"M-Moltres? Why?" Maxie stammered, trying to pry his attention away from the giant hands on his hips. He retrieved a pair of red shorts from the closet and closed it, turning his head to face Archie.

"I dunno. Havin' second thoughts about capturing it. Don'tcha think it should be free? 'S a legendary bird, after all," he shrugged, withdrawing from Maxie.

Maxie took the opportunity to turn and face Archie in the little space between the closet and bed. "Are you insane? After all the work we went through to catch it? Do you have any idea what Giovanni would do to it?! He'd probably accidentally condemn the future of humanity or something stupid," Maxie reasoned, placing a hand on Archie's chest.

Archie kept an arm wrapped around Maxie's thin waist, looking down at him worriedly. "Yeah, but... nothin'. Yer totally right." He bit his lip and Maxie gave into the urge to reach up and kiss him gently. He had to get on his tiptoes, which made Archie smile into the kiss. He squeezed his lower back and Maxie lazily looped his arms around Archie's shoulders. His soulmate. His soulmate. His soulmate. The word soulmate, soulmate, soulmate kept flowing through his brain, making him relax completely into Archie's arms. The word "enemy" didn't even cross his mind, and he didn't care. Archie was his and vice versa; that was all that mattered.

"I love you." The words slipped past his lips between kisses without him even realizing. He was busy trying to map every inch of Archie's chest and back with his nimble fingers, Maxie's body pressed against the wall.

Archie didn't miss a beat. "I love you too, Red," he mumbled into his neck. (That was going to leave a mark, Maxie thought. Fuck my pale skin.) To Maxie's surprise, he kept repeating the phrase between kisses and nips. "I love you, I love you," he chanted against his jaw. "I love you," he prayed at his pulse point. "I love you," he promised.

Maxie never slept better than he did that night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter's gonna be a long one, so sorry if it takes a little longer than planned! I'm not abandoning this fic, trust me. :) (Chapter 11 is an epilogue, so it'll be up pretty quickly after.)


End file.
